A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

The night was still, and the entire residential building lay wrapped in silence. Right now, inside a certain second-floor bedroom...

Ke Mingqing and Kuroki Hitomi lay on their sides on the soft bed. Wrapped entirely beneath the covers, they faced each other in the dark, silently studying one another's faces.

The summer heat was stifling, making the air under the blankets incredibly stuffy. They could hear each other breathe, their steady exhalations lightly brushing against one another's faces.

After a long while, once they were sure Xia Lingxue had left, they finally looked away and poked their heads out from the covers.

The moonlight was exceptionally bright tonight, turning the French windows into a clear, gentle mirror that reflected the silhouettes of the boy and girl.

Even though Xia Lingxue had returned to her own room, Kuroki Hitomi still did not let her guard down.

She didn't speak. Instead, she opened the Chat Panel and sent Ke Mingqing a message.

[Kuroki Hitomi: Are we safe?]

[Ke Mingqing: Logically speaking, we should be.]

The rain wasn't too heavy, just falling in a steady patter.

Pea-sized raindrops beat against the glass. Through the curtain of rain, the street view grew hazy; the streetlights cast a dim yellow glow, while the distant overpass remained brightly lit.

To her, this night had been far too noisy, loud enough to make her irritable. Fortunately, the arrival of the rain drowned out most of the commotion.

For a moment, the cicadas in the trees and the lingering, eerie footsteps from the roof all vanished.

Kuroki Hitomi felt significantly more at ease. She hesitated for a moment before typing out another message.

[Kuroki Hitomi: I often hear your mother's footsteps coming from upstairs. Do you?]

[Ke Mingqing: Are there any? I've been focusing on the movements outside for the past few hours. If she was making footsteps, there's no way I wouldn't have heard them.]

Kuroki Hitomi froze. Staring at the text on the panel, she didn't understand. Was she the only one who heard those sounds?

But why?

Was it because the brains of everyone in this family had undergone some unknown "modification" that automatically adapted them to the strange noises Xia Wenna made, leaving them oblivious to it?

Or could it be that I was targeted by that alien?

After pondering it for a long time, Kuroki Hitomi shook her head and tossed away her messy thoughts.

[Kuroki Hitomi: Maybe it was my imagination.]

[Ke Mingqing: How about this: find an opportunity to go back to your original room later. Then I'll destroy the Theater Puppet. A long night brings many dreams, and we shouldn't leave any flaws behind.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: I still want to sleep in your room for now.]

[Ke Mingqing: Why?]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Because what if someone else in your house targets me again?]

[Ke Mingqing: Other than my second sister, I really can't think of anyone else who would make a move on you. Relax, relax. Just go back and sleep.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: I feel like the other people in your family are also very dangerous.]

[Ke Mingqing: First of all, with everyone else at home, my mom would never do anything that could expose herself. She keeps her identity as an alien completely secret.]

[Ke Mingqing: Secondly, Xia Zili knows your identity, but we have an agreement. She said she wouldn't just lay a hand on you casually. My little sister keeps her word.]

[Ke Mingqing: As for my oldest brother, the Bird Judge, he and my second sister are practically conjoined twins. Since my second sister's suspicions have been cleared, he naturally won't make a move either.]

Kuroki Hitomi lowered her eyes at these words, not understanding why Ke Mingqing automatically ignored the other person in his house.

[Kuroki Hitomi: Mmm... what about your third sister then?]

[Ke Mingqing: Although I usually call my third sister a little devil, she is actually one of the few pure souls in the family. She has no reason to do anything underhanded.]

[Ke Mingqing: Let me put it this way. Faced with the same situation, my second sister would secretly test you in various ways; but my third sister is different—if she suspected you were a player, she would just announce it loudly at the dinner table and then hug you, asking: "Is it tiring to be a player? It's fine, just pretend you got cancer and only have half a year to live. Make sure to enjoy the rest of your life!" ...That's just the kind of personality she has.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: I get it, but I still want to sleep in your room.]

Ke Mingqing was taken aback.

He stopped using the Chat Panel and slowly turned his head to look at Kuroki Hitomi's lowered eyes.

Her pupils were as calm as a black cat under a streetlight at night. Ke Mingqing could read people's emotions from their eyes, but he felt that Kuroki Hitomi's eyes were silent, making her completely unpredictable.

However, considering that no matter how strong she was, or how good at calculating people's hearts, she was still a girl after all. After experiencing so many things, she would naturally feel afraid. Wanting someone to stay with her was perfectly normal...

Let alone her, even Ke Mingqing himself was tormented day and night in this house of monsters.

So, he let out a helpless sigh and said, "You can stay until five or six at the latest... Then you have to swap back with my puppet and return to your own room before anyone else wakes up, understand?"

"Yeah." Kuroki Hitomi nodded. She pulled her phone from her skirt pocket and typed into her memo app, "I've already set an alarm."

Ke Mingqing remained silent for a moment before giving a light shrug.

"You actually look a lot like a friend of mine. She also likes to communicate by typing on her phone." He thought of Shadow Girl.

Speaking of which, Commander Lin Yin had mentioned that a newcomer would join their team in a few days to fill Top Hero's spot.

Ke Mingqing still didn't know who this person would be, but he hoped it would be a heavyweight with at least B Rank combat power to carry them.

He thought of Top Hero again. That black kid used to send him hip-hop songs whenever he was bored. His phone's text messages still held a bunch of unheard rock album names.

He had been extremely annoyed by it before, even setting the messages to "Do Not Disturb," but now that noisy account would never send another message.

He would listen to them when he had time.

Thinking this, Ke Mingqing gave his pillow to Kuroki Hitomi, resting his hands behind his head as he quietly listened to the rain outside, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Sleeping in the same bed didn't really matter to him, but it was different for Kuroki Hitomi. At this moment, she seemed somewhat stiff, resting her hands flat on her stomach. Her ears were still red, and her gaze wandered everywhere.

After a while, Ke Mingqing suggested she sleep on the tatami mat.

It was a very good suggestion. If someone opened the door later, they wouldn't immediately see Kuroki Hitomi lying on the tatami—the bedframe was thick, creating a height difference that perfectly concealed the girl's silhouette.

Not to mention, Ke Mingqing was still sleeping on the bed, making him an excellent cover.

Ke Mingqing explained his reasoning, and Kuroki Hitomi didn't object. She silently nodded, got out of bed, and lay down on the tatami. Ke Mingqing turned on his side and handed her a thin blanket.

She took the blanket, covered herself, and turned her head to look at the boy's back on the bed. Ke Mingqing was facing the bedroom door, keeping a vigilant watch for any unexpected situations that might arise.

Just like that, Kuroki Hitomi stared at his back, closed her eyelids, and soon slowly drifted into dreamland.

Outside the window, the rain gradually grew heavier. The rainwater washed over the streets and alleys, pooling high enough to reach a pedestrian's trouser legs.

However, what neither of them expected was that at around 4:30 in the morning, a sudden click rang out. The bedroom doorknob had been twisted a full turn.

Rumble—!

Accompanied by a crash of thunder, someone pushed open the bedroom door. At that moment, lightning struck, bringing a fleeting flash of daylight to the world and washing the entire bedroom in stark white.

Ke Mingqing and Kuroki Hitomi woke up at the same time. Their faces were illuminated pale by the lightning, shock hidden in their eyes.

The former rolled over on the bed, while the latter remained lying on the tatami, only slightly poking her head out.

They looked up. In front of them stood a girl wearing a goose-yellow nightgown, with a wisp of dark blue flame drifting from the corner of her eye.

But her appearance was bizarre. No one could clearly see her facial features; it was as if someone had used a pencil to scribble all over her face, drawing a black vortex.

Yes, the girl's face was entirely a vortex, though the faint outline of a stick figure could be seen beneath it.

A witch.

Ke Mingqing instantly understood her identity.

Misfortunes never walk alone, indeed. First his second sister, and now a witch. What a damn disastrous night, he thought.

"Xia Zili..."

Kuroki Hitomi was stunned. From the super-human species panel floating above the other party's head, she could tell that this person was undoubtedly Xia Zili, but she had no idea what was actually going on.

I remember locking the door. How did she open it? Ke Mingqing thought to himself. Could she have used magic to form a key, seeping into the doorknob's keyhole to pick the lock? Has a witch's control over magic reached such a delicate level?

Soon, this unnamed witch closed the bedroom door. She leaned against the doorframe, tilted her head, and looked at the two people in the bedroom.

Kuroki Hitomi turned her head to Ke Mingqing and asked softly, "What's going on?"

"Don't speak, don't show your head, and don't make a single sound," Ke Mingqing said, pressing his hand against Kuroki Hitomi's head and draping the blanket over it.

Pressed down on the tatami, Kuroki Hitomi chose to listen to Ke Mingqing. She didn't peek out anymore and held her breath.

Ke Mingqing quietly stared at the witch.

After a long while, the witch suddenly moved. She walked over step by step, like a toddler who had just learned how to walk, her body swaying as she murmured in a childish voice:

"Big brother—let's play together, okay?"

"It's so late. Can't you just get some sleep?"

"Sleeping... is no fun. I don't want to sleep." The witch's voice suddenly grew deep.

Ke Mingqing could feel the air pressure in the entire room drop.

The world fell deadly silent, as if someone had pressed the pause button. The sound of rain disappeared. He glanced out the window from the corner of his eye; the wind and rain seemed suspended in mid-air, and even the dynamic advertisement on the billboard had slowed down.

The screen flickered in the rain. As the spokesperson, Officer Girl spoke in broken segments, carrying an eerie, magnetic distortion like a machine breaking down.

When Ke Mingqing turned back, the line vortex on the witch's face had expanded significantly. This seemed to mean she was angry, much like a little girl puffing her cheeks.

It wasn't until the next second, when Ke Mingqing tentatively spoke, that the scene outside the window returned to normal:

"Fine, what do you want to play?"

The moment his words fell, the sound of the rain flooded his ears once more. Thunder roared, and a garbled mess of advertisement slogans blared from the billboard.

The vortex on the witch's face shrank. She curled her lips into a faint smile...

Because her mouth was outlined in blood-red while the other lines were black, Ke Mingqing was actually able to tell that her current expression was a smile.

Ke Mingqing breathed a long sigh of relief. He sat up straight on the bed, suddenly feeling secretly thankful that it was raining outside.

With the fierce wind and rain, along with the occasional loud clap of thunder, it would be very difficult for anyone else in the house to notice the incredibly tense situation in his room.

Otherwise, if they rushed over and saw Xia Zili and Kuroki Hitomi having a late-night gathering in his room, combined with the previous string of rumors, he would probably be teased endlessly for the rest of his life...

Of course, his life would be rather short—probably only half a year.

The witch pressed a finger to her chin, looking up at the ceiling like a little girl thinking for a moment before she said:

"Hmm... how about hide-and-seek?"

"Hide-and-seek?" Ke Mingqing frowned, repeating the words.

With his foresight, if it wasn't for the fact that the Tracking Sunglasses had been used on Xia Lingxue earlier and were currently on cooldown, he really would have wanted to place a tracking coordinate on the witch in advance.

Otherwise, God knows where she would hide.

"Yes... play hide-and-seek with me," the witch said softly. "Big brother—you come find us... I will hide well."

Ke Mingqing remained silent for a moment. "By 'us', do you mean... you and Xia Zili?"

"No, big brother—you guessed wrong."

The witch shook her head. The moment her words fell, she suddenly let out a low chuckle.

Ke Mingqing didn't even have time to react. In that instant, he only felt a gust of fierce wind brush past his cheek. Then, another crash of thunder exploded, and the world in his eyes turned completely white.

That wisp of faint blue drifting from the corner of the witch's eye became the only color in his vision.

Soon, that flame vanished, and immediately after, the witch's figure also disappeared.

A moment later, when the lightning faded and the bedroom was once again shrouded in darkness, Ke Mingqing finally snapped back to his senses.

He froze slightly, suddenly realizing something. He turned to look behind him, only to see that the tatami was empty; the thin blanket was drooping onto the floor.

Kuroki Hitomi was gone...

Ke Mingqing widened his eyes, calmly scanning his surroundings. At this moment, wisps of dark blue flame still lingered in the air.

He drew in a sharp breath of cold air, instantly understanding who the "us" the witch mentioned was. She meant herself... and Kuroki Hitomi.

Ke Mingqing didn't stay dazed. He immediately opened the Chat Panel and sent a message to Kuroki Hitomi.

[Ke Mingqing: Where did she take you?]

[Ke Mingqing: After she stops, tell me where you are right away. If you don't know the name, describe what's around you.]

The boy held his breath, his eyes dead set on the Chat Panel.

The clock on the wall went tick-tock... The second hand turned, and time ticked by, but even after a long while, Kuroki Hitomi didn't send another message.

Crap... Did Kuroki Hitomi faint? Otherwise, there's no reason for her not to reply.

Cold sweat beaded on Ke Mingqing's forehead as he thought, It's fine, I can use my puppet to play Kuroki Hitomi first... That way, I can bring them back without raising anyone else's suspicions.

He walked forward, twisted the doorknob, and stepped out into the hallway. Muffling his footsteps, he entered Xia Zili's room. It was completely empty, with no one in sight.

The witch wasn't here.

Ke Mingqing swept his gaze around the room, then walked out, shutting the door behind him.

As he paced back to his own room, he pondered:

Hide-and-seek... She said she wants to play hide-and-seek, but what kind of twisted hide-and-seek is this? When I finally find them, will I just discover Kuroki Hitomi as a corpse?

Think fast, where could the witch be hiding?

Wait, the reason the witch persona acts like a child... could it be because after she was born, she swallowed Xia Zili's childhood memories?

Ke Mingqing suddenly stopped in his tracks, his pupils contracting slightly.

Last month, Ke Mingqing had heard Xia Zili mention that she had constantly been losing her past memories lately.

Yes, losing her memories.

As of right now, Xia Zili only remembered things that happened after she turned ten.

But fortunately, she had a habit of keeping a diary. Every time she lost a memory, she would flip through her old diaries to fill in the missing fragments in her brain.

But the key was, why was Xia Zili losing her memories?

What exactly had she experienced?

And what was the significance behind the witch persona making her lose her memory?

Ke Mingqing immediately realized that the witch persona and Xia Zili didn't share memories, which most likely meant... the witch had stolen Xia Zili's childhood memories, claiming them as her own.

Suppose the witch persona was just a newborn infant with an unformed personality.

Since she only took Xia Zili's memories prior to age ten, her social experience would stop right there, so it wouldn't be strange for her to act like a little girl.

The witch wasn't mature yet.

I'm afraid that only after stealing all of Xia Zili's memories will the witch persona grow into a "complete person," and at that time, she will truly take over Xia Zili's body.

Thinking of this, Ke Mingqing couldn't help but shiver.

He pressed the button in the middle of the doorknob to lock his room door, then turned to look at the French windows, staring into the torrential rain outside as he fell deep into thought.

So... treating the current witch as a young Xia Zili, if she wants to play hide-and-seek with me, there is only one place she could possibly hide.

Yes, it absolutely couldn't be anywhere else.

The moment this thought landed, Ke Mingqing's pupils lit up with electricity. He quickly stepped forward, pulled open the French windows, and transformed his body into a dazzling bolt of blue lightning, shooting straight into the curtain of rain.

But Ke Mingqing wasn't entirely certain. Could the witch just be playing a prank, and they hadn't actually left the residential building?

If he hadn't already created the Theater Puppet, he could have used the "overhead view" that only appeared during its creation to check the entire building.

But right now, Giovanni was in Tokyo, and his second Theater Puppet was playing Kuroki Hitomi, lying in the room at the end of the hall.

Therefore, Ke Mingqing couldn't use the overhead view mechanism. If he wanted to quickly confirm whether the two were still inside the building, there was only one way...

In the next second, Ke Mingqing made the Theater Puppet sleeping in the other room open its eyes.

Soon, the other "Kuroki Hitomi" sat up. Just as she was about to get out of bed, she suddenly looked up and saw an unbelievable, bone-chilling scene.

The door to the room had been opened just a crack. Looking through that crack, the hallway was completely pitch-black.

But she could see a faint human silhouette hiding within the shadows. And at this very moment, an eye covered in black-and-white static squeezed into the crack of the door, staring deeply at her.

Without a doubt, it was Xia Wenna.

The other Kuroki Hitomi froze.

Damn it, why is Mom here? Ke Mingqing felt a chill in his heart. Could you guys be any more twisted?

He was completely thrown into chaos. First, Kuroki Hitomi was taken away by Xia Zili's witch persona, and now his mom was pulling this unannounced bed check!

Other than Xia Lingxue's actions, almost nothing this entire night had gone according to his expectations.

In the very next moment, the Theater Puppet's vision was suddenly covered by a violent blast of black-and-white static. She couldn't make a single sound as her body's senses gradually faded away.

Pitch darkness.

So dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The Theater Puppet lost consciousness, but she was still alive. It seemed Xia Wenna still had a use for her.

This is a fucking literal Boss Room. I thought things were too simple; if I had known, I never would have brought Kuroki Hitomi here... Ke Mingqing gritted his teeth, sprinting through the rain.

He had no time to worry about Xia Wenna right now. It was just a puppet, not Kuroki Hitomi herself. If she wanted it, let her have it.

Electricity stimulated every corner of his body. His blood felt like it was burning as he accelerated, accelerated, and continuously accelerated. The deep blue lightning scorched through the rain, shooting wildly forward into the seemingly endless downpour.

He crossed the long street, zipped past telegraph poles one after another, strode over muddy paths, and tore through the iron fence of a restricted area, rushing right inside.

It wasn't long before Ke Mingqing arrived in front of that abandoned train station.

Yes, since the witch possessed Xia Zili's memories from ages one to ten, if she wanted to play "hide-and-seek" with Ke Mingqing, it could only be inside this train station.

Ke Mingqing slowly reduced his speed, slamming on the brakes to plow a black trench into the ground before stopping under the eaves.

He looked up. In front of him was the familiar train station entrance. It was over a thousand meters from his home to this abandoned train station, yet the boy didn't have a single drop of rain on him, and his clothes were still dry. The moment the rain got close to him, it was evaporated by the dancing electricity.

"I hope you're here..."

Ke Mingqing muttered softly, a faint light swirling in his eyes.

He raised the back of his hand, wiped the sweat from his chin, and then, with his head lowered, walked step by step into the pitch-black tunnel.

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